Then at #5 it’s The Crew, marking the first time Ubisoft’s star striped racer has entered the top five.

Notable risers this week include Shadow of Mordor, rising from #13 to #10, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag somewhat more significantly leaping from #27 to #11. That’s down to Xbox One bundle sales, apparently.

The biggest fallers of the week meanwhile are WWE 2K15 – falling from #8 to #17 – and Wii U-exclusive Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker toppling all the way from #16 to #40.

There were no new arrivals this week, and only two re-entries – Forza Motorsport 5 at #28 and Mario Kart 8 at #39. Poor old Toad – forever living in Mario’s shadow.

It’s a little hard to muster up enthusiasm for the final chart of the year. There are no new arrivals and very few re-entries, plus the titles in the top ten are likely to remain there for weeks – if not months – to come.

Every game in the top ten did however see a sales boost, with GTA V and DriveClub in particular enjoying stronger sales than during last week’s pre-Christmas chart. It’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that occupies the top spot though, making it five non-consecutive weeks for the future set shooter.

At #2 it’s GTA V, which is then followed by FIFA 15, Assassin’s Creed Unity and Far Cry 4 to form the UK’s top five.

The Crew holds fast at #6, DriveClub moves up from #12 to #7 while the next three titles remain unchanged – Minecraft: Xbox Edition, Minecraft: PlayStation Edition and LEGO Batman 3.

Glancing down the top 40 our attention is drawn to a couple of notable risers – LittleBigPlanet 3 is up from #20 to #13 while Alien Isolation goes from #35 to #24.

As for the previously mentioned re-entries, Wolfenstein: The New Order is back at #32 while Sunset Overdrive leaps in at #34. Then at #39 Call of Duty: Ghosts makes a not particularly spooky reappearance.

We thought Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker might have entered the chart due to the broken street date but that’s not the case. Not to worry – Toad’s arrival will make next week’s chart slightly more thrilling.

Sales of The Crew appear not to have harmed by a lack of reviews. Ubisoft’s open-world racer is in at a respectable #6 in this week’s UK top 40.

Eurogamer reports sales were split 59 per cent on PlayStation 4, 33 per cent on Xbox One, eight per cent on Xbox 360 and a single per cent on PC. Chart-Track doesn’t include digital sales in their data, however.

For the first time in six weeks it’s FIFA 15 that rules the roost. That’s followed by Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, GTA V, Far Cry 4 and LEGO Batman 3 to form the UK’s top five.

Incidentally, LEGO Batman 3 is up all the way from #19 due to discounts at retail. We’d wager that Just Dance 2015 is back on the rise for the same reason – it’s up from #24 to #11 this week.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire meanwhile both depart the top ten, falling to #13 and #17 respectively. Super Smash Bros. likewise remains in the top 20, currently at #14.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX is the only other new entry in the top 40, arriving at #31. Despite this low placing it went on to make #3 in the PS3 chart.

The barrage of new releases begins to slow down this week, with just three titles heading to retail. Next week is quieter still, with what appears to be the final retail release of the year.

If you’re wondering where reviews of The Crew – which launched on Tuesday – are, Ubisoft did provide an explanation. Short version: they didn’t want the press playing it until the severs went live. Long version: “The Crew was built from the beginning to be a living playground full of driving fans, so it’s only possible to assess our game in its entirety with other real players in the world. And by other, we mean thousands and thousands and thousands of players – something that can’t be simulated with a handful of devs playing alongside the press”. It’s worth pointing out though that there was no embargo in place. They wouldn’t have gone down well at all.

Expect to see reviews of The Crew trickle out over the next few days. Eurogamer promises they’ll have a review early next week. They posted a few impressions yesterday, claiming that it does have potential to be something special but currently it has more than a few issues.

As you may be aware, Ubisoft added a Xbox 360 version to the roster just a few months ago. This is being handled by Asobo, of Fuel fame. We doubt reviews of this iteration will be forthcoming, a la the Xbox 360 version of Forza Horizon 2.

Another racer heading to store shelves is WRC FIA World Rally Championship on 3DS. Information is pretty thin on the ground, and word also has it that it’s a mere mobile conversion. As a full price release, approach with caution.

At least we can report Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX is worth both time and money. GameInformer gave the PS3-exclusive 9/10, saying that “If you’re feeling nostalgic or running through for the first time, there’s a ton of meat to sink your teeth into that can easily last well into the new year”. EGM meanwhile awarded it 8/10: “The narrative quality is questionable, at least when viewed through a modern lens, but the charm and novelty still ring true, as does the series’ pioneering action-RPG combat”.

For the uninformed, it contains Kingdom Hearts II (PS2), Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP), and somewhat curiously Re:coded (DS). There’s a limited edition version for fans to consider. ShopTo has stock currently; Amazon is sold out.